Eleanor Roosevelt/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. A boy, Tim (who is wearing a grey tank top and a white headband), and a robot, Moby, are jogging in Riverside Park in New York City. MOBY: Beep. Moby and Tim stop and look up at a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt. TIM: Uh, that's Eleanor Roosevelt! MOBY: Beep. Moby is holding a letter. Tim reads from the typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Can you tell me about Eleanor Roosevelt? From, Tarun. TIM: Sure. Eleanor Roosevelt was a respected activist and author, as well as the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. An image shows Eleanor Roosevelt in front of a U.S. map. TIM: She was born in 1884 to a wealthy family right here in New York City. A map shows New York City. TIM: Young Eleanor had a pretty sad childhood, though. She was very shy, and she worried about being plain and not fitting in with high society. An image shows Eleanor as a girl in her home. Her expression is serious. TIM: To make matters worse, her life took a terrible turn when her mother, father, and one of her brothers all died within a three-year span. Roosevelt was devastated. She had become an orphan at age ten. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, she went to live with her grandmother, who eventually sent her to an all-girls school near London, England. It was there that Roosevelt first started feeling comfortable in her own skin. She made lots of friends, and her teachers encouraged her to ask questions and voice her opinions. And she had many! An image shows young women in front of the school Eleanor attended. TIM: For one thing, Roosevelt thought that it was unfair that some people should have so much while others had so little. So when she returned to New York, she became a social worker and taught classes to poor children. Around that time, she also started hanging out with her distant cousin, Franklin. The two fell in love and were married in 1905. An image shows Franklin and Eleanor holding handing on a porch. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yup, it's true! Eleanor's uncle was none other than Theodore Roosevelt, the sitting president of the United States. Since her father had died, Eleanor's Uncle Teddy gave the bride away. An image shows Theodore Roosevelt. TIM: Afterward, she concentrated on raising a family, while Franklin worked. But when Franklin was given a job by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913, the Roosevelt family moved to Washington, D.C. An animation shows a car from the early 1900s, packed with luggage, driving down a road. TIM: Despite her shyness, Eleanor tried to fit in with the other politicians' wives. Then one day while unpacking Franklin's suitcase, she discovered some love letters to him from one of her friends. Eleanor felt hurt and betrayed. An animation shows Eleanor holding the letters above Franklin's open suitcase. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, the Roosevelts decided to stay married, but after that, Eleanor became much more independent of Franklin. She started to get involved with organizations like the League of Women Voters, which helped women exercise their new right to vote. An image shows with a march led by the League of Women voters. Two women at the front of the crowd hold a sign that reads, Votes for Women. TIM: And she continued to campaign for American workers, fighting for higher wages, a shorter workweek, and protections against child labor. An image shows Eleanor speaking to a group of people outside of a home. TIM: These activities made her one of the most recognized political figures in New York State, and helped her husband get elected governor in 1928. MOBY: Beep. TIM: That's right. Franklin contracted a disease that left him unable to walk, so Eleanor often acted as his eyes and ears. And when her husband was nominated for president in 1932, Eleanor assisted him on the campaign trail. An image shows Franklin holding Eleanor's arm as they stand on a platform at the back of a train. TIM: The country was in the middle of the Great Depression, an economic downturn that impoverished many Americans. An animated chart shows a descending line as a dollar amount shown in numbers decreases. TIM: With the country desperate for a new direction, Franklin easily defeated sitting President Herbert Hoover. An animation shows Franklin speaking at a podium as the U.S. president. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Actually, Eleanor wasn't sure what her role would be. In the past, First Ladies had pretty much stuck to entertaining guests of the president. But Roosevelt wanted to use her position to help Americans in need. She wrote a daily newspaper column and magazine articles on topics like poverty, education, and the changing roles of women in society. An image shows Eleanor typing at a typewriter. TIM: And she traveled around the country on behalf of the president to see how people were faring. An image shows Eleanor traveling with others in a mine shaft. TIM: It broke her heart to see so many citizens living in poverty and working in unsafe conditions. So, as much as possible, she personally helped get the people she met access to jobs, homes, health care, and education. An image shows Eleanor meeting with three African American men. MOBY: Beep. TIM: It's true, some people didn't appreciate a Frist Lady getting so involved with the country's business. But Roosevelt just kept helping as many people as she could. After the United States became involved in World War II, she traveled to the South Pacific to visit wounded soldiers. An image shows Eleanor, in a Red Cross uniform, shaking a wounded soldier's hand in a hospital. TIM: She won a lot of admiration for her ability to lift the spirits of just about anyone she met during her husband's four terms as president. Then; in April 1945, just before the war's end, Franklin Roosevelt had a stroke and died. An image shows Franklin Roosevelt. His picture fades to bleck. TIM: As Eleanor considered what to do next, the new president, Harry Truman, asked her to help in the formation of the United Nations, an international peacekeeping organization. An image shows Eleanor in bleck to symbolize mourning. She is holding one corner of a United Nations flag, along with Truman and two other women. TIM: So she traveled around the globe, trying to gather support for the UN and speaking on issues of health and safety for all people. MOBY: Beep. TIM: She kept busy, all right! Roosevelt continued to work well into her seventies, speaking, writing, and even hosting a TV show. She died in 1962 at the age of 78. MOBY: Beep. TIM: I know, she was about as inspirational as they get. Shall we? Tim jogs off. Moby hugs the statue of Eleanor and puts his head on her shoulder. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts